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2 Sheets-Sheet l.

FIG- z Patented Dec. 18, 1888.

FIGA

REFRIGERATOR GAR.

FIG I T. N. B'LY, J.W. GLOUDXE E. B. WALL.

(NoModel.)

7%# I v INVIINTOR l WIT NESSES:

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. T. N. ELY, J.-W. CLOUD 8u E. B. WALL.`

REFRIGERATOR GAR. No. 290,324'. Patented Dec. 18, 1883.

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Darren STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

rHEODORE N. ELY' AND JOHN W. CLOUD, OF ALTOONA, lPENNSYLVANIA,A

' AND 'EDWARD B. VALL, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

REFmeRAToR-CAR'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'atent No. 290,32'4, dated December 18, 1883.

' Application filed July 24, 1883. (No model.)

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THEODORE N. FLY and JOHN XV. CLOUD, both of Altoona, Pennsylvania, and EDWARD B. WALL, of Columbus,

Ohio, have invented a new and useful lmprovement in Refrigerators, of which the following is a full, true, and accurate account, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this `specifica- Io tion.

Our invention has especial reference to that class of refrigerators in which ice is used to produce the requisite low temperature, and has for its object the perfection of the cir- I 5 culation of air through the refrigerator-chamber, the economical use of the ice employed to cool the air, and the drying and cleansing of the air as it circulates.

Our invention accordingly consists in the 2o devices for distributing the cooled air in such a way as to insure its circulation through the chamber, in devices for condensing the water held in suspension in the cooled air, and in the mechanical constructions and arrange- 2 5 ments hereinafter described.

Reference being now had to the drawings, in which similar letters designate similarparts, Figures l, 2, 3, and 4 are sectional views of your invention as applied to stationary refrigerators; and Figs.'5 and 6 respectively longitudinal and transverse sections of a refri gerator-car embodying our invention.

A is the chamber to be cooled.

B is the ice-box, which is situated at the top 3 5 of the refrigerator.

Gis a flue opening at its top into the ice-box B, and `extending down nearly to the bottom of the chamber.

, D D D are metallic plates or diaphragms, 4o which we place inside of the iiue C, and preferably parallel with it, so that as little resistance shall be offeredto the descending air as is possible.

E is a drip-dish, provided with a trap.

F F are openings at the top of the ice-box for the admission of air.

b b are gratings or bars placed over the entrance to the ue C, to prevent ice from falling into it from the ice-box B. The walls of 5o the ice-box and ilue are made up of an outer skin, g, of wood or other similar pool` conductor of heat, and of an inner metallic skin, h. The walls of the refrigerator are preferably of wood or similar material. We prefer to make the bottom of the ice-box B so that it will slope toward the flue C, and to corrugate its inner metallic skin, as shown at h in Figs.

3 and 6. By causing the air to enter the icebox at the highest possible point and not allowing it to escape from the iiue, which forms 6o a prolongation of the ice-box, until it is at or nearly at the bottom of the chamber to be cooled, we obtain a more perfect and powerful circulation through the chamber from bottom to top than can be obtained by any other means. Theinterior metal lining, h, of the iceboX and iiues and the metal diaphragms D promote the condensation of the moisture in the air passing through the flues, and constitute ample and suitable surfaces on which the 7o water can be deposited. The water will run down from the iiue and diaphragms into the drip pan or trough E, and by means of the trap with which it is provided will escape outside of the refrigerator without allowing the admission of any air. It is evident that the form and number of the diaphragms D may be varied at will, the only limitations on f lwhich the water may condense, and be so arranged inthe iue C as not to materially interfere with or check the descending current of air. The corrugations h of the bottom ofthe ice-box conduct the water from the melting ice direct to the ilue C, and deliver it in a thin even stream. The bottom and outside, g, of the ice-box and flue being of wood or similar nonconducting material, there will be no tendency for the water to deposit upcm them, and 9o the current through the chamber'will be a drying as well as a cooling one.

Where the ice hasa tendency to pack in the ice-box it will be well to place a grating vor slatted box in the ice-chamber, so that the air may circulate under or alongside of the icev without passing through it. Such a construction is shown in Figs. land 3. The same difculty is also overcome by us by placing bars or gratings b b over the mouth of the flue Cin such a way that they shall project upward to or even above the level of the ice in the box. Their upward slant from the edge of the iiue serves at the same time to keep the ice from falling into the iiue, and enables the air after passing over the ice to ind its Way down into the tlue without passing through much or any of the ice. Provisions of this kind to insure an uninterrupted current of air are of the utmost importance, as if the mouth of the iiue C becomes choked with ice the cooling of the chamber would be very imperfect, and the moisture would condense in the chamber and on its contents.

Vhere it is practicable we prefer to construct the iiue C in the center ot' the chamber to be cooled, and provide entrances for the air all around the top of the ice-box, as this construction will, we think, secure the most perfect circulation of the cooled air. Fig. 3 is intended to illustrate such an arrangement, and shows how in a refrigerator with two side doors the flue would be placed. As will be seen, its central position would oier no obstacle to getting at any part of the interior of the chamber.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is"

1. 1n a refrigerator substantially as described, the combination of the ice-box B, situated at the top of the chamber A,and having openings F at its top, the metal-lined iiue C, extending from the ice-box B to the bottom of the chamber A, and the drip-cup and trap E, situated beneath the end of the flue C.

2. In a refrigerator substantially as described, the combination of the ice-box B, situated at the top of the chamber A,and having openings F at its top, the metal-lined Iiue C, extending from the ice-box Bto the bottom of scribed, thc combination of the ice-box B, sit-y uated at the top of the chamber A,and having openings F at its top, the iiue C, extendingA from the icebox B to the bottom of the chamber A, the metal diaphragms D, situated in the interior of the flue C, and the drip-cup and trap E, situated beneath the end of the iue O.

4. In a refrigerator substantially as shown and described, the chamber A, having nonconducting sides, in combination with the icebox B, having its outer skin, g, of non-conducting material, the iue C, having its outer skin of non-conducting material and its inner skin, 7L, of metal, and drip-cup. and trap E.

5. In a refrigerator substantially as shown and described, the chamber A, having nonconducting sides, in combination with the icebox B, having its outer skin, g, of non-conducting material, and its inner skin, h",ofcor rugated metal, the flue C, having its outer skin of non-conducting material and its inner skin, lz, of metal, and drip-cup and trap E.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

THEO.; N. ELY. JOHN IV. CLOUD. EDW D. B. VALL.,

Titnesses as to signatures of Theo. N. Ely and John IV. Cloud:

XV. H. ROIIRER, \V. D. CoUcH. XVitncsscs as to signature of Edward B. IV all:

E. A. Dawson', C. C. CORNER. 

